ABSTRACT
Background: Healthcare workers on the frontline who are directly involved in the treatment of COVID-19 patients are at a special risk of physical, psychological and social impact of the pandemic. This challenging situation is causing various mental health problems like distress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and fear which affects their decision making ability in treating patients and also has long term physical and psychological implications. This study was aimed at investigating the psychological impact, coping strategies used and the effect of ‘brief psychological intervention’ on mental health of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic between May and October 2020. Methodology: Total 175 healthcare workers participated in the interventional study. ‘General health Questionnaire-12’ and ‘Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R)’ were used to assess psychiatric morbidity and posttraumatic stress respectively; ‘brief-COPE’ was used for assessing coping strategies used. An oral session of ‘brief psychological intervention’ was delivered and reassessment by IES-R was done 3 months later. Results: Fear of spreading or contracting infection was more among females and nurses. Doctors had higher psychiatric morbidity and posttraumatic stress (PTS); there were no statistically significant gender differences in the same. Participants with higher psychiatric morbidity also had more PTS. Use of approach coping strategies showed least PTS. The interventional module was effective in stress alleviation. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic had led to considerable stress among healthcare workers. Imparting regular psychological intervention can help in preparedness and building resilience to tackle the taxing circumstances that have arisen due to the pandemic